The present invention relates to a non-dairy coffee whitener having excellent stability to the thermal and acid stresses of coffee. More particularly, the invention relates to a non-dairy coffee whitener containing a water-soluble acetate salt as a stabilizing and/or buffering agent.
In recent years, non-dairy coffee whiteners have become of increasng importance in the food industry because of their ability to whiten coffee and their economy, taste, ease of handling and excellent shelf life. Coffee whiteners are marketed in three physical forms: powdered, liquid and frozen. Most whiteners are fat emulsion products; the powdered product, prepared as an dried emulsion, forms a liquid emulsion on addition to aqueous media. Regardless of its physical form, most coffee whiteners contain the same essential ingredients, namely vegetable or animal fat, carbohydrate, protein, emulsifiers, and stabilizing and buffering salts. The level of these ingredients in the coffee whitener will vary depending on the physical form of the whitener and the particular formulation of a manufacturer. Set out below are typical coffee whitener formulations for both liquid and powdered whiteners, with a range of ingredients given for each.
______________________________________ LIQUID POWDERED WHITENER WHITENER INGREDIENT % by wt. % by wt. ______________________________________ Fat 3.0-18.0 25-50 Carbohydrate 2.5- 6.0 35-65 Protein 1.0- 3.0 3-12 Emulsifier 0.3- 0.5 1- 5 Stabilizer 0.1- 0.2 0.5- 3 Stabilizing salt 0.1- 1.5 0.5-3 Color-Flavor as needed as needed Water q.s. to 100% about 1 ______________________________________
It is generally recognized that a stabilizing and buffering salt is an essential ingredient of coffee whiteners for it improves the colloidal dispersiblity of proteins and prevents protein coagulation (feathering) when the whitener is added to coffee. Thus, many coffees have a pH which is near the isoelectric point of the protein in the whitener. Unless the whitener contains a buffering agent, the protein will coagulate when the whitener is added to such a coffee, resulting in a breakdown of the whitener emulsion. Buffering salts prevent such protein coagulation for they hydrolyze to slightly basic solutions, thereby increasing the pH of the coffee above the isoelectric point of the protein. In addition, the stabilizing/buffering salt, to be useful in a coffee whitener, must not impart any undesirable taste or flavor to the whitener or the coffee.
Heretofore, the only materials known to possess the combination of properties necessary in a stabilizing/buffering salt were certain phosphate and citrate salts, namely, mono- and dipotassium phosphate, disodium phosphate, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate and sodium citrate. Of these, dipotassium phosphate and sodium citrate. Of these, dipotassium phosphate is most commonly used. However, some nutritionists are currently concerned that dietary phosphate intake may be excessive, and some consideration is presently beng given to restricting the use of phosphates in foods and beverages.